I have to admit that we did not read the instructions properly about how to fold and tape the straws first, so we had a tricky time getting our straws taped to bowls of water! Whoops!

We made a few modifications: The girls wanted to add food coloring to our boats to make them a bit more colorful, and we froze some small plastic toys inside the boats as “animal pirates.” My youngest daughter loves all things pink and cat-themed so she made a couple of the boats pink and added some cats!

After the boats solidified in our freezer, we took them out onto our deck and gave them a quick minute in the sun to warm up a bit. They thawed just enough to easily slide out of the bowls and set sale into our water-table lagoon. We were on the lookout for sunken treasure!

It was a perfect way to cool off on a hot afternoon. We’re planning to keep some of these icy pirate ships stashed in our freezer for some bathtime play as well!

This week’s Camp Sunny Patch honor counselor is MaryLea! MaryLea writes Pink and Green Mama, a blog where she shares more than 800 kid-friendly “craftivities.” Check it out on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

Honor counselors are bloggers who have embraced the spirit of Camp Sunny Patch–creativity, individuality and fun!–and put their own spin on our weekly activities in exclusive “Camp Journal” posts. Please post in the comments section to let us know your creative ideas!